Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG Shares Bought by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 510.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 68,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 56,868 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Booking were worth $286,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,516,000. Aristides Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 5,657.0% in the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 37,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $156,098,000 after purchasing an additional 36,431 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 20.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 261,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,506,000 after purchasing an additional 43,602 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP raised its stake in shares of Booking by 24.9% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 1,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,901,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the first quarter worth approximately $505,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $234.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $210.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.05.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $177.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $231.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $171.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.87.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.